CBS Evening News

A look at "The Ryan Effect" on the 2012 campaign

(CBS News) The presidential campaigns paused for the day on Sunday. President Obama attended church in Washington, while Mitt Romney attended services in New Hampshire.

It's been a busy week since Romney named Paul Ryan as his running mate. "The Ryan Effect" has put some oxygen into the race.

The polls don't show an uptick for Governor Romney the way other candidates have been helped by their vice president pick, but conservatives love Paul Ryan. And he showed this week he could both defend Governor Romney's Medicare plan and also attack on that issue, which is very important for them.

He's done well enough that the two are now going to campaign Monday together in New Hampshire. They weren't scheduled to.

Another "Ryan Effect" on the campaign is that Romney's advisors say Ryan really jacks him up.

The Republican Convention begins one week from Monday. These are largely prepackaged events by this point. Political reporters had been talking about the possibility of a brokered convention, but the GOP convention in Florida next week will be the opposite of that.

There are no surprises in store, but there is often a surprise at these conventions. In 1992, Pat Buchanan's fiery speech got people to sit up and take notice. Of course Barack Obama in 2004 was another convention surprise.

Another mystery is about how Governor Romney sells himself. This is an opportunity for him to reintroduce himself to the country. In 1992, Bill Clinton totally reframed his debate, his whole campaign when he introduced himself as "the man from Hope."

In the end this is a long commercial for the party. So will it be selling a positive vision or will this be four days of beating up on President Obama?